Help with Espar?

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Ghost

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I think I'm having issues with my vintage Espar forced air heater. When it starts a cycle I can smell a little bit of the diesel exhaust inside the boat pretty consistently every cycle. At first I thought it was just a lucky wind draft, but having checked the routing of the intake air, it is on the opposite side of the boat. I might be over reacting, but now I'm thinking it gives me a headache and I'm starting to suspect that it might have a crack in its heat exchanger. Bothered me enough I stopped using it. BRRRR, we don't have dock power sufficient to power the electric heaters on board.

So...anyone have experience with one of these? How expensive are they to have worked on? I can't find parts lists or diagrams of them anywhere so I assume they have the maintenance on these things pretty locked down and DIY is not going to be possible.

I wonder if fixing will be economical or whether I'm going to end up buying a new one.?

Any ideas? I don't yet know the model (no literature on board) or the BTU, but its big enough to heat the 48. I'll get more info but I have to crawl back to read the info off the unit itself and I didn't feel like doing that the other night. :)

bp
 
Brett,
I upgraded my old Espar D3L furnace, control box and thermostat early last Spring, to the New & Improved Espar 4D - It's great and only draws 2-3 amps away from shore power. Prior to upgrading, I did a lot of research on these units and accumulated technical shop manuals, troubleshooting guides, wiring diagrams, etc. Some are in pdf format which I can email to you - or I can describe in detail what I have done when I have more time.

I also have a few links to mfr and service rep websites, which will help you decide if your unit is feasible to service. The parts are VERY expensive if you decide to overhaul what you have - it was more cost-effective for me to upgrade. I have a deadline issue right now, but will post some links in a bit.

Steve
 
This guy Dan Lohse did my install of my Espar and has an older one on his boat so he may be familiar with yours once you get more details.
Dan Lohse
Low Sea's Marine
206-949-0266 cell phone
He lives aboard on Lake Uinion so he is not that far from you.
I am sure he can suggest something if you call him.
Also I am sure you probably already about know Boat Electric- Just about anything Espar goes thru them around our area, but try Dan first to run questions by him.
Another resource if Steves's info is not relevant to your furnace.

Ya know by the sounds of it your exhaust tube might have seen it's day.
 
Thanks Steve & Brad.

Steve, I feared that the parts might be prohibitive and an install labor wise is going to be far far less expensive than the labor to fix. Hell, I'd probably just do the install myself since everything is already ran, fuel lines, thermostat line, etc...

Dang, these things are expensive, I was hoping to upgrade the inverter this year instead. Oh well, its only money.

Brad, I hate always being right, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to find more issues when I dig deeper on the heat exchanger. Here's the bad part, we don't have a CO monitor on board since the boat did not come with one. First thing I'm going to do is bring one on board. If it goes off immediately, I'm going to feel pretty stupid.

Wife and I have been chuckling that we only seem to relax and enjoy the boat lately and don't get much done while there....Maybe its just that comfy, maybe something else is going on.

bp
 
I put two of them (CO monitor's) on the boat as soon as the furnace was done. I needed them anyways.
If you have some questions give Dan a call though, just tell him Brad Voorhees passed his number on to ya. He is reasonable if you want hired work done, His rates are less then others I have delt with in the marine business.
You are probably right about the upgrade though,
I have seen some pretty frustrated boaters trying to keep old furnaces going.
 
Anybody know what an Espar D8 goes for these days? I could not find one on boatfix and BoatElectric is closed as of a few minutes ago....

bp
 
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